Harry Reid: Only one Republican sequestration alternative

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rejected aproposal, which has support from some Senate Republicans, to allow the Obama administration more flexibility in implementing cuts from the sequester.

Reid told reporters Tuesday there was no reason for Congress to cede power to the administration and dismissed allowing individual committees in Congress to adjust spending reductions.

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“We have a law that’s in effect — it’s called sequestration,” Reid said. “Those cuts will go forward. They’re all cuts. I think we need some revenue to take the pressure off of everybody. The American people agree with me. Until there is some agreement on revenue, I believe we should just go ahead with the sequester.”

Before the sequester actually takes hold on Friday, Senate Democrats will offer an alternative that is comprised roughly of equal parts spending cuts and new tax revenue, the latter mostly from a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires known as the “Buffett Rule.”

Moments before, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that Senate Republicans plan to offer more than one alternative this week to turn off the sequester.

“We haven’t decided yet how many alternatives we will offer later this week,” McConnell said.

When asked about allowing votes on multiple Republican proposals, Reid said he would allow only one vote on a sequestration alternative from the Republicans per a previous agreement that would allow both sides to present one plan.

McConnell told reporters that giving the White House more flexibility on the sequester, while something he supports, doesn’t have the backing of his entire conference.

“I would be happy to give the president more flexibility and rely on the agency heads to apportion this amount of spending reduction in a different way than the sequester envisioned,” McConnell said. “There are some members of our conference who are suspicious that [the] administration taking advantage of such flexibility would seek to punish their political enemy. Though there are differences of opinion about that, we’re continuing to discuss all of that within our conference.”

Reid also commented on the off-color language that Boehner used to urge senators to act, saying they should “get off their asses” on the sequester.

“You know, I was raised in a little town that had 13 brothels in it, so I’m use to pretty salty language as you know,” Reid began his presser. “But the speaker today said he’s not that category for sure, but Boehner hopes Senate gets off their ass.”

But Reid softened his language a tad when trying to turn the line back on House Republicans, who he said are relying on bills passed in the previous Congress — which are invalid this session — to say they’ve done their share.

“I think he should understand who is sitting on their posterior,” Reid said. “We’re doing our best to try to pass something.”

This isn’t the first time word choice has become a sparring point between Reid and Boehner.

During negotiations over the fiscal cliff, Boehner approached Reid in the lobby of the White House and told the senator, “Go f— yourself,” in response to the majority leader saying the speaker was running a dictatorship.

Earlier this month when Boehner said Obama “lacked the guts” to make spending cuts, Reid also took the opportunity to comment on the speaker’s word choice.

“I’m a firsthand observer of the Speaker’s verbiage,” Reid told reporters. “That’s kind and thoughtful compared to what he called me.”